After spending two days around the Fox Glacier area (6th/7th March) my boyfriend and I have 1.5 days free before we catch the Tranzalpine train from Greymouth to Christchurch at lunchtime on the 9th March. We were considering driving from Fox up to Punakaiki, staying there overnight on the 8th March, visiting the the Pancake Rocks/Blowholes on the morning of the 9th and driving back down to Greymouth in time to catch the train. Is this do-able? Does anybody have any other suggestions for places to visit and or accommodation in the area?

Thanks

Yes, it's doable. The drive from the glaciers to Greymouth takes less than 3 hours, then Pancake Rocks is under an hour from Greymouth. If you arrive in the afternoon of the 8th, you should even have time for some hiking.

There are some cottages in the area, but I have no first hand experience with them. These sites might help:

www.cottagestays.co.nz
www.boutiquestays.co.nz

There is also some B&B accommodation:

http://www.bnb.co.nz/west_coast/resu...town=punakaiki

Have a good trip!

hi
3 km north of Punakaiki there is a magnificent little walk that takes u through a beautiful forest (NIKAU PALMS !!) to the beach. simply awesome.
it is called Truman Track' perfectly signed. check Perpendicular point.
Enjoy it
aby

Aby, how long does the Truman track take? Can you see the Punakaki rocks from there are does that involve another walk? We will be driving from Motueka to Arthur's Pass and are trying to plan our time.

hi Pawleys

It's a rather short walk, u would want to stay hours on the beautiful beach.
& u can have a return trip for roughly an hour ; but u need time to observe photograph meditate. once out of the forest u have view of the sea shore
from above (rocks) then decend via wooden stairs to the beach. (wouldn't u want to walk along the beach further?
u may b alone on a beautiful stretch...

Yes u can see PUNAKAIKI from there (using binoculars - it's 3 km).
don't even think of not visiting Punakaiki !! it is a touristic walk but a real hughlight !

my opinion: sleep in the car on the way but don't miss Punakaiki.
OK u can do Truman in half hour running, withour going down just observing the beach from above.
still u'll absorb some beauty

good luck
aby
I
under stand u don't have an extra night...

We just returned from Punakaiki and it's fabulous. There are several hotels (Punakaiki Rock Villas) we stayed at Wave Watchers Retreat a private home. The rocks are terrific. We did the Truman Track twice. High and low tide. Completely different. Lots of tide pools, starfish, crabs, etc at low and at high everything is covered and quite different. Same with the rocks. River kyaking would have been fun. The tavern has great food. One of our favorite places on our trip. The drive over the pass to Christchurch is breathtaking. Be sure to stop at the visitor center and take the Devils Punchbowl Waterfall walk. Check out Dux de Lux (restaurant) in Christchurch at the Arts Centre. The center is phoenomenal.